Changing of the Guard
by Tim Nolan
Summary: A manga-based story set well in the past of the Moon Kingdom which looks at the roles of the Senshi.


{ Changing of the Guard 1/1 }  
  
  
  
Changing of the Guard  
  
  
A Sailor Moon fanfic by Tim Nolan.  
e-mail: nomad@cyberverse.com  
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Ginza/7876/  
  
  
********  
  
  
It was mercifully cooler out on the balcony   
overlooking the central garden of the Palace Minor,   
and when Serenity was out there she didn't have to be   
inside and hear one of her best friends cry as her   
mother slowly died.  
What nearly made her go back inside was that she   
could still see the portion of the city where the sick   
were under quarantine. The houses she'd ordered   
destroyed were an ugly scar marking a boundary where   
her beautiful home turned into a burial ground.  
Serenity leaned heavily on the marble railing. She   
woke this morning a princess, heir to the throne of   
the Moon Kingdom. Before she could even break her fast,   
she had been crowned its queen. Fatigue bowed her   
shoulders, and her eyes were red and puffy from all   
the tears shed last night and this morning. There   
would be more reasons to cry later on, she knew all   
too well. Her reserves of strength and patience were   
long exhausted, and there would be so much more for   
her to endure.  
In the distance, a shimmering haze surrounded   
what remained of the Foreign Quarter and the Merchant's   
Quarter. This told her that Venus had finished   
restoring the barrier which had fallen that morning.   
The death of the queen earlier, along with the fact   
that the old Jupiter and Mercury would follow her   
minutes from now, had shattered their protection   
against the plague.  
The Guard had tried to the best of their   
ability to keep the sick and the desperate caught   
up in the area where they were quarantined. Without   
the magical barrier, however, the Guard was being   
pressed back. Once the Guard unit fell, the people   
would escape and the plague would be spread to the   
rest of the city. There would be no more Moon Kingdom.   
Seizing a pair of horses, the young queen   
and Sailor Venus raced to the barrier, and arrived   
just in time. The Guard detachment had finally   
broke, fear of the mob and plague on their faces. The   
throng surged forward, but then stopped as they   
realized who was standing in front of them, blocking   
the only path through the rubble. It was a single   
young woman, but the dress and hairstyle were   
unmistakable. The new queen was clutching her scepter   
and bathed in the light of the Silver Crystal.  
" Go back," she'd pleaded. Serenity was all too   
aware it was her people who were suffering, and she was   
unable to help them. Mothers and fathers, boys and   
girls, small children and infants. Most of them were   
sick and dying, and all of them were terrified.  
With a cry of despair, she did the only thing   
she knew how to do with the Crystal: its light went   
out and then flared brighter than before. Her mother   
never let her hold it, let alone had the chance to   
teach her how to use its power.  
This was enough, though. Her people stepped back,   
and Venus seized the chance.   
A wall of gold and orange energy rose up between   
the queen and her people. A heartbeat later, the   
wall stretched and expanded along the field of   
rubble until the entire area was surrounded. The   
people inside screamed in rage or betrayal, but   
the barrier was strong enough to contain them. They   
tried, but fists and improvised battering rams where   
no match for the magical barrier.  
The queen trembled and somehow kept her feet. Venus   
ordered a pair of Guards to take her back to the   
castle. The Senshi herself had to stay to finalize   
the process of setting up the barrier, but the hard   
part was done. The current Mercury and Jupiter would   
be dead soon, and the new ones could add their strength   
once they'd learned to do it in a few days.  
Serenity pulled a chair over by the railing and   
sat. A renewed wail of grief from behind her caught her   
attention. That would mark Mercury's passing, she decided,   
if the same thing that had happened to Venus a month   
before held true, or Mars two days ago.  
" When do I get to have a chance to cry?" she   
wondered aloud, luxuriating in thinking only herself   
for a few minutes, but then turned her thoughts to a   
more productive line of reasoning. There was no time   
for self pity right now. The Earthers brought the plague   
here with them. Serenity had a very good idea of just   
what part of Earth was responsible, and what part she   
would punish.   
History, at least how her teacher had taught her,   
was one of her studies she'd actually looked forward   
to. The old man almost made it seem like he spun a   
story from a book of dry, dusty facts. However, what   
used to entertain was now looking more like a tragedy.   
There had once just been the Golden Kingdom, but that   
changed after Serenity I came into her power.  
Serenity I had been born in the Golden Kingdom   
during a time of great turmoil, and decided that a   
change was needed. She spent years in prayer, meditation   
and study in preparation for the day she would make a   
difference. It was during this same time that Serenity I   
found or created the Silver Crystal, and while the origin   
of the Silver Crystal can be debated, nobody could   
disagree that Queen Serenity I used it to make a   
difference.   
In protest against a round of bloody factional   
disputes during which the entire population of a   
city-state near her home was massacred, Serenity I   
created the Moon Kingdom and a city on the Moon. Then   
she selectively transported thousands of people from   
Earth and the Golden Kingdom to this new city   
A state of war had existed ever since the   
founding of the Moon Kingdom. The war between the   
two kingdoms started when Serenity I allowed people   
in the Golden Kingdom to emigrate after the founding   
of the Moon Kingdom, and the discovery of the   
knowledge of magical power that Serenity I exclusively   
controlled. The balance of political power was altered,   
starting another series of civil wars in the Golden   
Kingdom. These wars were complicated by the damage   
to the economy of the Golden Kingdom as many wealthy   
nobles were among the people who left, taking their   
wealth with them.  
The Golden Kingdom quickly learned they could   
not fight the Moon Kingdom, who they had labeled as   
rebels. Other nations welcomed the trade enclaves set   
up by the new country, and helped defend them. When   
the soldiers of the Golden Kingdom were able to   
capture one of these enclaves, they found that they   
could not use whatever magic allowed travel to and   
from the moon.  
The Golden Kingdom finally tired of their   
losses after a decade of warfare, it seemed. An   
uneasy, unofficial peace followed, lasting just   
over two centuries. A hundred years ago, that changed   
when a strong, reform-minded dynasty was able to   
take control of the Golden Kingdom. What had once   
been an alliance of small kingdoms and city-states,   
often racked by dynastic wars and political turmoil,   
was now a much more cohesive whole with only a small   
number of fringe groups. Indirect trade started   
between the two kingdoms.  
However, peace was never officially declared. A   
year ago, on the day marking the celebration of a   
century of improved relations, on a festive and   
hope-filled day the new queen remembered so fondly,   
envoys of the Golden Kingdom officially proposed it.   
Queen Serenity supported the idea, and approved the   
concession of allowing traders from Earth to come   
directly to the Moon as well. All seemed well for   
several months until Venus fell ill after a visit   
to the Foreign Quarter.  
  
****  
  
Serenity sighed, leaning back in a chair in her   
quarters. Her shoulders were tight with tension and   
her feet hurt. One of her maids entered the room,   
carrying a serving tray with soup, bread, an apple   
and a glass of watered-down wine.  
" Thank you," the queen murmured and mechanically   
set to eating. Her own hunger was something that she   
could at least deal with.  
Ironically, it would be her first meal as Queen   
Serenity. No sooner than she'd been told her mother   
had died than she and Venus had to ride out. Upon her   
return to the Palace Minor there had been tasks that   
she needed to do, and receive oaths of service from   
her friends who were now Jupiter and Mercury in fact.   
The Venus she was most familiar with, a short   
and cheerful woman with a braid of glossy black hair   
that reached the floor, was the first to die from   
the plague when it started a month ago. Her replacement   
was the current Venus, a brunette of the same age   
as the Princess, who solemnly walked into the palace   
two days after her predecessor's death with the   
mark of her position shining on her forehead.  
Serenity felt like a ghoul for thinking it,   
but it was fortunate that the Venus she grew up with   
died when she did, a day after getting sick. Her   
successor was the only one who could use her powers   
as a Senshi right now. The queen and Mars fell ill   
later that day as reports began to come in detailing   
how bad the plague was.   
" Mother," she whispered and shivered at the   
pain of the memory. Serenity had been there to see   
her mother slide into a fever that she would never   
recover from. Open sores would appear the next day,   
according to the reports, followed by a rapid wasting   
and death several days later. Ruler and Senshi were   
quarantined in an unused wing of the Palace Major,   
and Princess Serenity was suddenly the queen in all   
but name.  
Her mother's Senshi were a great help to her   
at first. They were the ones who trained the new Venus.   
Jupiter had noticed how the center of the problem   
seemed to be the Foreign Quarter, and suggested a   
quarantine. Serenity had not wanted to do it, but   
they had no alternative. Their own healers could not   
cure the plague, or even slow it down. Reluctantly,   
Serenity ordered it done.  
The two older Senshi were the ones who performed   
that hardest task, and drove everyone in the Foreign   
Quarter and Merchant's Quarter out of their houses   
and into the quarantine zone at the center of the   
two. They then created a swath of destruction around   
it a hundred yards deep, and set up a barrier with   
their powers.  
" Keeps them and the plague in there," Jupiter   
had said, trying to grin and lighten the mood. Soon   
after, any smiles faded from the faces of she and   
Mercury. They did not have the plague, but were   
weakening as Queen Serenity did. Their daughters would   
be their successors. The new Senshi would be powerless   
until their mothers passed away, however, and for   
several days after becoming Senshi.  
That left Serenity to be the one to deal with   
the people. The citizens of the Moon Kingdom were   
desperate, and acted accordingly. Everyone wanted   
audiences with her, and she could not tell all of them   
no. She was obligated by Serenity I's edicts to spend   
part of her day receiving petitions from all the   
citizens. During this time of crisis, what was   
normally a purely ceremonial occasion became a   
torment. Along with that, many of the nobles were   
of a rank higher than her advisors, and loudly   
demanded that they would only deal with the Queen or   
a Senshi. Venus was rarely available to help her, as   
the new Senshi was the only one holding up the   
barrier around the quarantined quarters.  
Get my family or loved ones out, the honest   
ones begged or demanded. This person has the plague   
and should be forced into the quarantine, the crafty   
ones said, conveniently avoiding any mention that   
the person they accused was their enemy or rival. Murderer,   
shouted others. She was of the Royal blood, and had the   
Silver Crystal. She should have cured the plague and   
saved them all by now, and the fact that she was   
hesitating only meant that she was using the plague to   
her own advantage somehow.  
Day in and day out, over the course of a month,   
her people came to her to plead for help that she could   
not give as more of them died.  
Day in and day out, her people blamed her for   
the deaths of their loved ones.  
Day in and day out, she faced the living and   
their pain.  
Night after night, the faces of the victims   
haunted her when she tried to sleep.  
  
****  
  
  
Serenity woke with a start, raising her head from   
where it was pillowed on her arms. She was still at the   
table, the half-eaten meal pushed away to make room for   
her arms. All she'd done was put her head down for a moment...  
" Only a few minutes," she whispered, lightly   
touching the soup bowl. The silver was warm. The memories   
of last night, what she had been dreaming of while she   
drowsed, were anything but.  
Mercifully, after a month of fever-induced   
hallucinations, Mars had succumbed to the plague the   
evening before. Her successor was already chosen and   
swore her oath to Princess Serenity shortly afterwards.  
Her own mother would be the next to die, Serenity   
knew. Jupiter and Mercury were comatose and would not   
survive another day. They had still not caught the   
plague, but their deaths were expected. When a new   
queen ascended the throne, the previous queen's Senshi   
generally would not outlive her by any great degree;   
balancing out their slightly longer lives and apparent   
youthfulness.  
This still did not make anything easier for the   
princesses' two closest friends. She had grown up with   
the two girls who would be her own Jupiter and Mercury.   
The new Mars was also close, coming from a family that   
lived near the palace and was known to the princess.  
Serenity spent many hours that night consoling   
the two girls. First, she was with Jupiter and her   
daughter, holding her friend as she trembled. The poor   
girl had cried so much she couldn't anymore. The prospect   
of losing her mother was bad enough, but with Senshihood   
pending and the pressures of the plague as well, the   
young girl was nearly paralyzed with despair.  
After that, she went to see Mercury. The next   
Mercury was not giving in to anything, and was   
attacking her feelings, the furnishings in her rooms,   
and anyone who came near in a vain attempt to hold her   
feelings at bay. Serenity weathered the storm and   
stayed there with her until her best friend had broke   
down and cried herself to sleep.   
Lastly, despite the crushing fatigue, Serenity   
had climbed the stairs of the tallest tower of the   
Palace Major, and went all the way to the highest room.   
That was followed by ascending a ladder which took her   
to a tiny platform on the roof.  
The member of the Guard who was posted here used   
to be here because of some punishment. The weather on   
the moon was mild, but this post was far enough up   
for it to be cold and windy compared to the ground   
below. Now, there was always a lieutenant or captain.  
" Your Majesty," the officer said softly,   
taking her hand to help her come through the trapdoor   
and to her feet. Without being asked, he handed her   
the telescope that was part of the equipment at this   
post. The guards had learned the routine quickly   
since Serenity was often there several times during   
the day or night.  
Serenity extended the tube and looked down to   
the east wing. Through an open window, she could see   
her mother, attended to by only a single elderly   
servant who had volunteered to look after the Queen   
despite the risk of the plague.  
" I would be with you if I could, Mother," she   
had whispered. For the last month, this was all she   
had seen of her mother, a frail figure covered with   
a blanket. Each time, she said the same thing. Each   
time, the guard at his post said nothing, knowing   
that the young ruler would not forgive herself for   
a very long time.  
  
****  
  
  
The monarch's hands trembled, making the parchment   
she held rustle.  
" They brought this plague with them, and now they   
ask for reparations for their dead?" Serenity fell back   
onto her throne, unbelieving and angered at the news   
delivered by an envoy of the Golden Kingdom.  
" They killed my mother!"   
The young queen sobbed out the accusation to her   
startled council. For several minutes, the only sounds   
that broke the uncomfortable silence in the enormous   
throne room were the muted coughs of one of the guards   
in the antechamber, and more muffled sobs from the queen   
as she regained her composure.   
Serenity flung aside the document and rose to her   
feet. The Chamberlain opened his mouth to begin to speak,   
but remained silent due to the level stare directed at   
him by the Queen. A pang of loss went through him at the   
reminder that the previous morning he had been like a   
favorite uncle to the princess, but that relationship   
was now gone.   
" I don't care what their experts have to say,"   
she spat, her mocking voice clearly showing her poor   
opinion of the Earth's healers, as she glared down at   
the assembled advisors of her recently deceased mother.   
" They will be the ones to pay," she pronounced,   
drawing herself to her full height and subtly altering   
her grip on the crescent-shaped scepter to remind them   
of who she now was. She looked at each of them in turn,   
daring them to defy her. None did.   
" Venus." One of the Senshi standing behind the   
throne, a slender brunette the same age as the Queen,   
stepped forward and nodded.  
" Make sure all of the Earthers are removed from   
my kingdom at once. Tonight, expel any of their spies   
who choose to remain behind. We begin mobilizing at dawn."   
" Yes, Your Majesty," she hesitantly replied.   
" The Council will prepare plans for the   
attack for my consideration," Serenity went on. " For   
now, you are dismissed." They did not look pleased,   
but they did leave, and the Queen sat down again after   
the doors closed behind them, leaving her with her Senshi.  
" Are you sure this is wise, Serenity?" the   
brunette asked, stepping forward and facing her ruler   
with a worried look on her face.  
" Aside from it being poor tactics to announce   
the attack by expelling diplomats," Mercury insolently   
added with a toss of her head to get her unruly blond   
hair away from her eyes. " What good is it to declare   
war on a plague?"  
" They brought it here!" the Queen cried. " Do   
you want me to overlook the fact that they've attacked   
us by bringing it here, and that they killed my mother?"  
" Don't you think I know that fact all too   
well?" Mercury heatedly replied in a shrill   
voice. " You're not the only one whose predecessor was   
also their mother. My mother and Jupiter's both died   
this morning, you know, and simply because your mother   
did. You're being an idiot, Serenity, and it is our   
duty to remind you of that."  
" Your duty is to obey me!" Serenity screamed. " Get   
out, all of you. Go!"  
Stunned and looking hurt, they complied, leaving   
the queen alone with her thoughts. The guards left as   
well. Some time passed as she grieved at the loss of   
her mother, and remembrances of better times.  
The firm tap of booted feet walking towards her   
down the length of the marble floor brought her back   
from her reverie.   
" I don't want to be bothered, Mercury," she   
sighed, knowing that only one of her Senshi would   
disturb her at a time like this. " Go away."  
" You have made an interesting beginning of your   
first day as queen, it seems," a rich, low voice wryly   
observed. The queen looked around wildly, staring into   
the shadows at the sides of the throne room, and   
started in surprise as a tall woman stepped out from   
behind a pillar to her left.  
" Who... " the queen asked, her voice trailing off   
as she looked at the newcomer, easily recognizing the   
uniform that the woman wore as being similar to what her   
own Senshi wore, but not the pattern of colors.  
" I am Sailor Pluto," the Senshi replied, inclining   
her head to the monarch.  
" A Sailor Senshi? I've never heard of you."  
" Yes, Your Majesty," the Senshi confirmed. " I am   
quite real."  
The queen took a long moment to consider the   
statement and its implications before coming to a decision   
and standing up to try to bring herself on a more equal   
level with the tall woman.   
" Then you will join us in the attack upon the   
Earth in the morning," the blonde announced.   
Pluto shook her head. " No."  
"No?" the queen snapped, her face flushing in anger   
as she brought up her scepter and brandished it at the   
Senshi. " I am your queen, and your duty is to obey me!"  
" You are my queen," the dark-haired woman   
explained. " It is not, however, my duty to obey you. I   
have other responsibilities."  
" If I am your queen, then I can still order you   
to join us," Serenity retorted, smiling as she thought   
she claimed the upper hand. " You will do as I say."  
" No," Pluto simply said, shaking her head in   
sorrow at the behavior of the young woman.  
" You may be able to use that line with your   
Senshi and your court, or coerce them with a reminder   
of the scepter you hold," Pluto explained. " That has   
no hold over me, nor can you command me or hurt me with   
it. If you believe that much in the power of your   
scepter, use it to make me join you."  
Serenity's eyes grew hard and she tightened her   
grip as if she was about to do just that. A bright,   
unwavering light spilled forth from the Silver Crystal   
and gathered around the young woman.   
Suddenly, Serenity felt something inside her   
shift in response to her anger. Energy from the Silver   
Crystal poured into her in a mad rush, filling her until   
she thought she would burst from it. No longer was the   
power unreachable, like this morning when she faced the   
mob in the quarantine zone. Somehow, now, for some   
reason, she could control it and she would put this   
upstart Senshi in her place.   
A dozen heartbeats later the accumulated power   
vanished. The scepter slid from her fingers while the   
color drained from her face, and Serenity fell back   
into a graceless sprawl on her throne.  
" What have I done today, Pluto?" the queen asked   
softly, beginning to noticeably tremble. " I was about   
to try and force you to obey me. What kind of monster   
have I become?"   
" Not a monster," Pluto replied, the slight   
shake of her head making her long dark hair sway as   
she walked down the steps to pick up the royal   
scepter and return it to the queen. " Not a monster   
at all, but a young girl who's had too much pain and   
responsibility thrust upon her in one day for anyone   
to expect her to bear it alone."  
Serenity smiled gratefully through the tears   
which began to gather in her blue eyes, and then buried   
her head in her hands. She began to cry silently,   
letting go of much of the pain, anger and frustration   
that had accumulated over the past month of her   
mother's illness.   
Pluto's first impulse was to comfort the young   
woman, and she even began to raise her hands to   
embrace Serenity, remembering what it had been like   
to do that for her own sisters almost three hundred   
years ago. Instead, she waited and let the worst of   
the crying and sniffling pass. The young woman was   
a queen, and needed to learn to act like one.  
" Serenity, you do have friends here," Pluto   
finally said, gently pushing the girl back into a   
more dignified position on the throne. " You have the   
Inner Senshi to help you, to be your friends, but   
they won't want to help if you keep ordering them   
around like you've done today. You can't win their   
respect with threats."  
Serenity nodded mutely and felt her cheeks flush   
with shame as she remembered what she had said to her   
close friends not minutes ago. They had grown up   
together; she, Mercury, Jupiter and Mars. Venus had   
become close in the last month, as well. She'd just   
treated her closest friends like they were servants.   
Her advisors, too, she remembered.  
" Thank you, Pluto," she said minutes later with   
a rueful smile as she thought of how much she had hurt   
so many people who were close to her. " You've been a   
great help to me today, and kept me from making many   
grave mistakes." The Queen slipped her hand into a   
fold of her gown, and pulled out a kerchief which she   
used to dab at her eyes and cheek.  
" Hardly anybody ever calls them the Inner   
Senshi anymore, you know, aside from references to   
old stories," she went on, directing a sly look at   
the Senshi. " I take it that there are other Senshi,   
then?"  
" I imagine your mother never had the chance   
to tell you about us," Pluto gently responded. " The   
queens only passed down the information verbally, as   
far as I know."  
" As far as you know? You're not that much older   
than me, and my mother was queen for fifty-two years."  
" The Outer Senshi have different duties than   
the Inner, Serenity. We have different powers, and   
there are different restrictions upon us," the tall   
woman began to explain. " The Inners protect you, and   
the Moon Kingdom, from threats inside your realm. We   
protect the Moon Kingdom from dangers outside of it,   
and it's one of those dangers that I've come to you   
about."  
" Is anything wrong? Are we being invaded?" Serenity   
quickly asked, beginning to look alarmed.  
" No, it's a minor matter," Pluto said, shaking   
her head and keeping her voice even to keep from   
alarming the young girl. " We need your permission to   
send Neptune and Uranus to Mars. There's a threat to   
the settlement there."  
" You're not sending Sailor Saturn as well?"  
" There is no Sailor Saturn, Your Majesty. Saturn   
is the only planet to not have its own Senshi to   
help protect it."  
Inwardly, she winced, hating the necessity to   
tell the lie, but she also knew it was for the best   
in the long run. All of the ruling queens were very   
likable and personable, which made it hard to lie to   
them, just like it was hard to lie to the current   
Serenity, but that did not make them perfect. Only   
the first Serenity had known of Sailor Saturn, and   
that was the way it was going to stay, at that   
monarch's own orders. Saturn's power was too great   
a temptation.   
" The Guard can handle it, couldn't it? I could   
reinforce the detachment there," the girl asked.  
" That would not be wise, Serenity. The Guard   
has never faced this, and we have. It was only your   
mother's illness that kept us from dealing with it   
beforehand, I'm sorry to say, not to mention you're   
going to need all of your Guard units in the near future."   
" Please don't remind me," Serenity groaned,   
rising to her feet. " I've probably started a war   
with the Earth already, and I'd better stop it soon. We   
can't risk straining the relations with the Golden   
Kingdom, not so soon after we've established something   
other than a state of war. The two kingdoms need each   
other, need the trade if we're to survive.  
" Go ahead and do what you must, Pluto. Send them   
to Mars," she said, then stopped to nod gratefully at the   
woman. " Thank you. You've kept me from making a complete   
fool of myself, and starting a war which would have hurt   
countless innocent people in the process. Is there   
anything I can do to repay you?"  
The Senshi of the outermost planet looked the   
young queen straight in the eye as a staff made of a   
gray metal, topped by the Garnet Orb, appeared in her   
hand. " Forget about us. To everyone else, your Senshi   
included, we don't exist."  
" But.... I was hoping we could talk again," Serenity   
said, her voice thick with a pang of loss at not seeing   
this woman who reminded her of the strength her own   
mother had, and not being able to feel that same sense   
of security from that strength anymore. The throne was   
a lonely place, she was rapidly understanding.  
" Give us our secrecy, Serenity," Pluto coolly   
replied. " Secrecy will let us fall upon your enemies   
unaware when they think they have bested the Inner   
Senshi and have the upper hand. We'll never give up   
our watch over you. Neptune and Uranus will be there   
if the Moon Kingdom truly needs help, as will I.  
" We can't fulfill our duties if everyone knows   
of us and is looking for us," the tall woman went   
on. " Allow us to stay legends, and tell only your   
daughter about us."  
The Senshi nodded once, tapped the butt of the   
staff on the ground, and melted away into the gray   
mist which swirled up from around her feet. The fog   
rapidly dissipated into the dimness of the throne   
room as the young queen leaned back in her throne,   
beginning to contemplate how to put her life back   
together again and restore the trust and faith of   
her friends that she had lost that day.  
  
****  
  
  
Castle Charon was cold, as always, when she   
returned to it, but little else could be expected   
this far away from the sun. Despite the power of the   
Silver Crystal allowing colonies to be constructed on   
the other planets, she doubted that there would ever   
be settlements on any of the outer planets. It would   
be too dark for most people on the moons of Jupiter,   
let alone her cold and distant world.  
She had arrived in the large, vaulted chamber   
that was the center of her castle. The sigil of Pluto   
shone faintly beneath her feet, fading to a faint   
luminescence as the extra energies she had used to   
return from the moon dissipated. The transit also held   
none of the side effects Uranus and Neptune would have   
to deal with, however. The palace had a dedicated focal   
point for a gate, as did all of the Senshi's castles,   
but the settlement on Mars had none.  
" Welcome back, Sailor Pluto," an ethereal voice   
said as a mote of light appeared directly in front of   
her, and coalesced into a tiny replica of herself.   
" Thank you, Guardian," she replied, nodding   
politely to the apparition. " Please send a message   
to Neptune and Uranus that I will be contacting them   
shortly."   
" It will take over an hour to synchronize without   
undue risk of detection at present planetary positions,   
Sailor Pluto," the Guardian replied, causing the silk   
drapes covering two large mirrors set into one end of   
the chamber to part, and the mirrors themselves to   
glow. " Would you like to use the imagers here?"  
The woman thought a moment, then shook her   
head. " No, I'll handle the images myself via the Gates   
at the top of the tower. It's not too much trouble,   
and I need the practice."  
" The Gates are wherever you wish them to be,   
Sailor Pluto. They are not restricted to any one   
location," her Guardian chided her softly, using the   
same tone it used to when she was still learning her   
powers under its tutelage after she took her oath.   
" I know, Guardian," the Senshi responded,   
smiling softly at the memory. " I simply prefer to   
have them in one location."  
The lights in the room began to fade, followed   
by the tiny apparition. " As you wish, Sailor Pluto,"   
it said and vanished, leaving the room lit only by   
the soft glow of the sigil in the floor.   
One hour would give her a chance to prepare   
herself for contact using the Gates of Time. All of   
the functions of the Gates weren't yet second nature   
to her, so she preferred to use them, despite the   
difficulty of some of the more advanced abilities.  
She'd been waiting in the Palace Minor for many   
hours starting the day before, watching and mourning   
the passing of the Queen. She'd also been waiting for   
a chance to talk privately with the new one, so she'd   
missed a number of meals. A quick stop in her own   
pantry would take care of that, and she picked up a   
jug of freshly pressed cider, a wedge of cheese, and   
bread for a light meal afterwards, and hoped that   
there would be more of the cider next morning. The crop   
of apples on the Moon this year was delicious, and   
nobody on the Moon had yet realized that the Senshi's   
castles were the explanation for the occasional   
discrepancies in the tallies in the kitchens.  
The mental image of a disgruntled cook made her   
laugh, recalling what she used to think when her   
Guardian told her where her meals came from. Pluto took   
a drink from the jug, savored the taste, and longed for   
an afternoon in spring under a blossoming apple tree to   
properly appreciate it as she began to climb up the   
stairs to the top of her castle.   
At the top of the stairs, she asked herself again   
if she wasn't a fool for doing it this way, but quietly   
laughed at herself for even asking. If she needed them,   
as the Guardian had said, the Gates were a thought away.   
Keeping them up in the uppermost room of the castle   
lent more credence to the illusion that the rest of   
the castle was hers alone, and not just part of her   
duties. Over the course of three centuries of duty,   
she'd learned the value of making the distinction   
quite clear.  
She sat in one of the four chairs at the table,   
closest to the stairs and facing the furthest wall of   
the rectangular shaped room. The two ornate wooden   
doors that compromised the far wall, filling it from   
stone floor to ceiling, were the cause of her primary   
duty, and a great aid in performing that duty.  
In some way she still did not fully understand,   
time flowed through them like a river through the   
banks of a riverbed. Her task was to learn of it, but   
not disrupt that flow in any way. To do so was fatal,   
she'd been told, and she agreed it probably would be   
fatal.   
At her mental command, her staff appeared and   
was set to rest against the arm of the chair that   
Saturn would likely never sit in again. After another   
drink, she turned her attention towards the matters   
at hand.  
Pluto then looked at the row of statues along   
the long wall to her right, opposite the window that   
ran almost the length of the left wall. There were   
seven statues, one for each of the rest of the Senshi,   
standing in front of a long red tapestry. The Inner   
Senshi looked nothing like the ones she had seen   
earlier, of course. The statues were of the first   
Senshi, and only those of the Outers looked liked the   
ones who were in service now.  
She looked carefully at Saturn, and gravely   
nodded at the statue in respect. Her duty may not   
be easy, but was nothing like the sacrifice that   
this young girl had made for her kingdom. Pluto   
remembered her, and would never forget her. She spent   
the rest of the hour thinking of the caring, inquisitive   
spirit who had freely chosen such a burden, and   
reflecting upon the cost of her decision.   
The original Serenity had, as far as Pluto   
knew from having lived in that time, and what she   
had been able to determine over the years since,   
imparted their powers to the Senshi at the founding   
of the Moon Kingdom. Serenity I had also been the   
one who saw the need for protectors who not only   
protected the Queen and her court, but also ones   
dedicated to protecting the kingdom, over and above   
all else.   
Thus, the two different group of Senshi.   
And perhaps that difference was why, ultimately,   
there were such startling differences between the two   
groups of Senshi, and why such a level of secrecy was   
needed when it came to her existence.  
The various nations on the Earth could not   
substantially threaten the Moon Kingdom in a military   
manner. It was too prohibitive in costs to get troops   
to the Moon to mount an attack, especially when the   
gates that allowed such travel were all controlled by   
the Moon Kingdom, and heavily guarded.  
What the Moon Kingdom had needed at that time   
was more protection from the dissidents from the   
various nations of Earth, and among its own people. The   
Inner Senshi filled that purpose, guarding the Queen   
and her kingdom. They also were ambassadors and   
emissaries, symbols of the power and majesty of the   
kingdom in the skies above the Earth.   
And since it was still not in human nature to   
trust anything that was not human, the Inners lived   
lives much like the ordinary humans who made up the   
populace of both the Moon and Earth. They lived longer   
lives, granted, as did their ruler, but nothing so   
long or unusual as to make them seem unapproachable.   
There still remained a need for a defense   
against an attack from the outside, and it was this   
need that the founder of the Moon Kingdom had met   
when she chose the four young women who became the   
Outer Senshi.   
In spirit, the Outers were much more the actual   
military of the Moon Kingdom than the Inners or Royal   
Guard were. Their longer lives gave them a more constant   
attitude, much more like the traditional mindset that   
most military forces developed, and the four women were   
much easier to hide than an army. The stated purpose   
of the Moon Kingdom, that of peacefully guiding the   
people of Earth, would not be accepted or believed if   
there was a large standing army in the heavens, waiting   
to descend upon the Earth.  
Pluto sighed, shaking her head a moment. Serenity I   
had said they would live long lives, and had held true   
to her word. The Inners lived only as long as their   
Queen. The Outers seemed destined to live as long as   
the kingdom.  
She remembered sitting here, in this very room,   
scant hours after she and the three other Outers had   
sworn their oath of loyalty to Queen and country in   
a private ceremony witnessed only by the first group   
of the Inner Senshi. That morning, Serenity I had   
announced her intent to establish a realm upon the   
moon, away from the influences of the nations of   
the Earth. Earlier that evening, Serenity I had in   
fact created her kingdom, both figuratively and   
literally, in a show of power that left nobody on   
the Earth doubting her or her kingdom's power. The   
Inners, sworn in only moments before, had then been   
instructed to never reveal their knowledge of the   
other Senshi.   
It was when Serenity I told them of their task,   
that Saturn volunteered to be the one who slept. The   
first queen's plan was to have more than one line of   
defense. Neptune and Uranus became the first defenders,   
the ones who would initially attack. Pluto herself was   
the second, guarding the Gates of Time and using them to   
gain information about any foe, and would also fight   
alongside the other two as needed.  
Saturn, though, would sleep in secrecy, eternally   
ready to deny a final victory to any who might try to take   
away the treasures of the Moon Kingdom. The libraries and   
storehouses of the Moon Kingdom were extensive, and obvious   
targets. Serenity I had blatantly stolen much of the   
knowledge of magic from the Golden Kingdom at the founding   
of the Moon Kingdom. This was one of the major reasons for   
the state of war that existed for so long between the two   
kingdoms.   
In the case of the Earthers, it would be millennia   
before they were deemed ready for that kind of knowledge,   
explained Serenity I. It would be too easy to misuse   
such things for power or tyranny. The Moon Kingdom could   
not risk hurting the people of the Earth by letting   
such information be spread, especially not after   
declaring that it was going to look out for the welfare   
of all of the people on the earth. The kingdom devoted   
to peace and equality would not be allowed to become   
an instrument of oppression.   
Again, Pluto sighed, and sifted through her   
accumulated memories for what she could recall of   
the girl with the violet eyes. She had been kind-hearted,   
so full of life and energy that it was unthinkable the   
girl would want to spend what could be an eternity   
waiting only to destroy.   
And then the girl was gone, asleep, unreachable.   
Saturn had a castle, and Pluto herself had been there   
in search of some sign of the Senshi, but if there was   
a Guardian for Saturn, it never replied to her call.   
Perhaps the Guardian slept, like the young girl did.  
A soft chime sounded, bringing her out of her   
recollection of walking through the silent halls of   
a dark, dead castle which floated above the ringed   
planet.  
" Open," she whispered, conscious of the appointed   
hour, and Gates of Time swung wide, letting a cool,   
damp fog roll into the room. Two eddies of the fog   
swirled around the statues of Neptune and Uranus,   
and when the mist cleared away, it was like the two   
women stood there in person.  
  
****  
  
  
Neptune folded her arms in front of her as she   
looked at Pluto, her firm resolve hidden behind the   
cool exterior along with a more caring side. Pluto   
had seen Neptune in battle, and knew the truth. There   
was steel deep inside of her, deep under the surface,   
something that her refined and gentle look did not   
hint at. Blue eyes, a blue that matched a patch of   
sky seen through a rift in the clouds of a storm,   
watched and measured everything around her, reminding   
Pluto of the oceans themselves, powerful and implacable   
in her resolve.  
Uranus was hiding her feelings behind a front   
of disdain as she stood with hands on her hips. Three   
hundred years had allowed Pluto to be one of two who   
saw the woman behind it, and her anger at the   
invading monsters threatening what she swore to   
protect. Uranus' eyes, the dark green of a troubled   
sea, hinted at an unstoppable force, like a wind   
howling unchecked across a plain.  
" She has given her permission," Pluto simply   
said. " You may begin."  
" The queen is dead," Neptune murmured,   
bowing her head slightly in respect to their   
deceased monarch. " Long live the queen."  
" Long live the queen," Uranus echoed. " We'll   
begin at once, Pluto. We can live off of the land   
well enough near the settlement to avoid detection   
by the settlers."  
" At least until we encounter the fog hunters,"   
Neptune added. " There may be no way of concealing the   
fact that Senshi were there after that. The fog hunter   
has had plenty of time to build a nest, or perhaps   
several. We'll probably need to use our powers at   
that point."  
Pluto nodded in agreement, and caught the look   
on Uranus' face. " That is understandable, Neptune. I   
also understand and agree, Uranus, that it would be   
better to deal with this at the source, but Nemesis   
is strictly off limits. Serenity I was very clear   
on that point. We cannot go there under any   
circumstances."  
" I still don't like it, Pluto," the blonde   
replied. Her voice and attitude were surly, but   
both Pluto and Neptune knew it was due to   
frustration. " We're supposed to be stopping   
invasions, not let them happen. We each have to   
fight several fog hunters a year, and we've known   
it's only a matter of time until one or more gets   
past us."  
" Not to mention the damage it could do if   
it reached the Earth or Moon," Neptune said. " With all   
the people and animals, there would be dozens if not   
hundreds of adult hunters in a few days."  
" The three of us would be hard pressed to stop   
them at that point," Pluto agreed to the point that   
Neptune hadn't wanted to bring up. " Also, the Inners   
would not be in any shape to help at the moment, and will   
not be for a few weeks at best. Only one has come into her   
power, and the queen is as powerless as the new Senshi. I   
don't think her attack would have tickled me if she'd been   
able to use it."  
" She did what?" Uranus interrupted, her voice low   
and dangerous. " Do you mean to tell me that the little   
fool tried using the Crystal on you?"  
" That's reprehensible," Neptune softly echoed.   
" She's been under tremendous pressure, Uranus," Pluto   
said carefully, looking Uranus straight in the eyes. She   
did not blink until Uranus looked away. " I was in no   
danger, and Serenity did not actually attack me. I think   
we can forgive her for her emotions at a time like this."  
" I guess we can," the blonde sighed.  
" How are they going to stop the plague?" Neptune   
asked, changing the subject in an attempt to lessen   
the tension between the two others. " And are we at   
risk on Mars from it?"  
Pluto took a drink from the jug while thinking   
over what she had seen. " There are still people   
under quarantine who are getting sick each day. Their   
best bet would be to keep up the barrier for another   
year or more to be safe. Let anything in there die   
along with the plague. As for us, we're immune to   
it, so there is no danger on Mars except for how   
it will affect the people there."  
" The trade treaty set up a permanent gate into   
the Foreign Quarter, if I recall," Neptune interrupted,   
remembering the layout of the city on the moon. She'd   
only been there once, for a few minutes, but had   
studied it often over the years. " If there is only   
one effective Senshi, and they were responsible for this   
like Queen Serenity believes, wouldn't it be a good time   
for the Golden Kingdom to make a push, regardless of   
the plague?"  
" It would be a good time," Uranus murmured   
thoughtfully. " A suicide strike would just have to   
bring down the barrier to let the plague do the rest.   
Venus is young and inexperienced with her power. One   
desperate magician could break her defenses down."  
" I agree," Pluto said. " There is a danger of   
that. The previous Senshi were able to stop it from   
spreading, but if plague carriers get out of the   
quarantined areas the city would be decimated in   
a day."  
" And then the enemy would just wait it out,"   
Neptune sighed. " The permanent gate gives them   
all the time they need, and they can come in and   
occupy the city at their leisure. There would be   
nobody left to fight them."  
" I'll watch the situation and make sure   
that it does not happen," Pluto quickly   
interjected. " I've no desire to summon Saturn,   
either.  
" As for the fog hunter on Mars," she went on,   
looking at the two others with a look of concern on   
her face. " You'd best get started. I know it is   
just another fog hunter, but we've never fought   
them in this kind of environment before. There's   
no way to know how they will be affected."  
" Any thoughts on how they might act differently?"   
Neptune softly asked the other two. All three of them   
were quiet for several seconds, and thinking much   
the same things as the other as they remembered   
their experiences with this enemy.  
Pluto had been the first to encounter one,   
almost two years after the founding of the Moon   
Kingdom. She'd just arrived at the planet Saturn,   
having taken up the chore of looking after it as   
part of her attempts at finding out what happened   
to the planet's Senshi when the creature attacked her.  
New to the use of her powers and the idea of   
a life and death struggle, Pluto had a very difficult   
fight. The monster would attack her, and then move   
away before she could counterattack. Later, she'd   
told the other two woman that she wasn't quite sure   
of who was hunting whom in the dark, gaseous   
atmosphere of the ringed planet. Her comparing it   
to thick fog led to the name they used for the   
creatures.  
After it was over, a worried and badly   
injured Pluto made real use of the Gates for the   
first time. She tracked the path of what she had   
fought, through the present and what she could   
reach of the past, and discovered it was from a   
yet unknown planet. Nothing should have been alive   
there, she knew by now. It was too cold and dark on   
her world, and this was even further out from the sun.  
Fearing invasion, Pluto ignored the pain of her   
injuries and scoured all of the space she could sense,   
trying to find any more of the creatures. Around the   
new planet, which she called Nemesis as she considered   
it the home of an enemy, she was able to find the   
trail of other creatures like what had attacked her.   
There was no sign of any civilization or inhabitants   
that she could see. Her attacker had been cunning,   
but not intelligent like a person. To it, she had   
been a threat and food. She'd been able to sense   
that much from it.  
The three of them contacted the queen that   
night, and met briefly in the main chamber of Charon   
Castle. With the help of her Guardian, Pluto showed   
them what she'd seen via the Gates. They watched how   
the creatures rose up from the planet by some unknown   
means, and drifted in towards the sun to be caught by   
the outer planets and flung inward towards the sun by   
the gravity of the large planets.  
Uranus emphasized how it was only a matter of   
time until one of them reached the Earth as she suggested   
an attack as soon as Pluto recovered. Neptune was in   
agreement, as was Pluto. Even if it proved impossible  
to destroy all of the creatures, at least they could   
discover how the fog hunters left the planet and get   
a better idea of how much a threat they were.  
Serenity I had to agree, they thought. The duty   
of the Outer Senshi was to fight threats like this. The   
queen closed her eyes for a few moments, either in   
thought or communing with some higher power. Nemesis   
had a purpose to serve, she proclaimed when she opened   
her eyes minutes later. One day, it would be vital for   
the distant planet to be like it was now. They were   
ordered to stay away from it, and let the fog hunters   
come.   
" No, no idea. They've never reached a planet   
this close to the sun before," Pluto   
murmured. " Shall I begin?"   
Both Neptune and Uranus nodded, and indicated   
their readiness. Pluto summoned her own Guardian and   
authorized it to override the normal restrictions   
upon instantaneous communications. Both Senshi and   
Guardian knew this was an emergency. An expenditure   
of this much arcane energy could be noticed if someone   
was looking for it, so they did not talk like this   
unless it was an emergency.  
A will-o-wisp, shaded in red, appeared over   
the statue of the first Mars, indicating to Pluto   
that they had established contact with the Guardian   
of the Senshi of the fourth planet as she steeled   
herself for the sorrow she would feel momentarily.  
" Yes, Pluto?" a weak, tremulous voice   
whispered, the Guardian unable to manifest more   
than the pinprick of red light. The Guardians   
needed contact with their Senshi, and the intervening   
three centuries since their creation had been hard   
on the constructs. Since the Guardians knew of both   
groups of Senshi, regular contact between they and   
the Inners could not be allowed. In particular for   
the Guardians right now, the passing of their   
Senshi recently, from either the same illness   
that felled the queen or simply dying when the   
monarch did, was even more of a burden to bear. Soon,   
however, the guardians could establish enough of a   
contact with their new Senshi as she slept, giving   
her the knowledge she needed to be a Senshi, and   
letting the guardian survive long enough to do   
this again the next time.   
The lack of contact was also part of the   
reason in the differences in their powers, as well. More   
contact with their own guardians made them far more   
powerful than the current Inners. Also, just as the   
Outers would gain in power if they ever dealt with   
Saturn and her Guardian on a regular basis, so would   
the Inners benefit from the same contact among   
themselves with their own Guardians.   
" We need your help, Guardian Mars," Pluto said,   
reminded once again of how important her Guardian was   
to her. " Uranus and Neptune are to go to Mars, and   
must need make use of the focal point in Phobos Deimos   
Castle."  
" This is normally not allowed," the mote of   
light replied long moments later. " Has the queen   
given her permission?"  
" Yes, this mission is authorized by Queen   
Serenity."  
" Very well," Guardian Mars responded, barely   
a whisper, and its light began to fade away. " A group   
of immigrants arrived just before the outbreak of   
the plague. It would be best to pretend to be one   
of those people," the guardian added before the   
light went away. Pluto's own Guardian, and she   
imagined Uranus and Neptune's doing so as well,   
also faded away in salute to their sister. Or,   
perhaps, they had difficulty seeing the fate of   
others like themselves.   
All three Senshi knew that the Guardians were   
not fully aware intelligences, like people. Serenity I   
had created them along with the castles, and, in a   
rare showing that for all her power the first Serenity   
was not infallible, mistakes like this had happened. The   
Guardians suffered where clearly they were not   
intended to.  
" The actual settlement does not have a focal   
point for a gate," Pluto said, looking at the other   
two Senshi. " I can use the one in Phobos Deimos Castle   
as a reference, but I'm still going to be anywhere up   
to a dozen or more miles and hours off target, so be   
prepared."  
Neptune nodded, as did Uranus, so Pluto reached   
out, took hold of her staff, and reached out with   
her mind, creating the spell that would be sending   
her two fellow Senshi on their way to the red planet.  
" Be successful, and be safe," she whispered,   
well after any chance for them to hear her words   
was gone. This was not the first time they had to   
deal with the fog hunters, but the hunters were still   
very dangerous. They're half reptile, half insect and   
half nightmare, Uranus had wryly observed after an   
early fight while nursing a broken leg and ribs. A   
momentary lapse in caution could kill any of the three   
Senshi. Their first several fights had been close calls,   
and all three of them had the scars to prove it.  
" I couldn't bear to do this all alone."  
  
****  
  
  
" If it hurts this much to gate, what in all   
the hells was Serenity I thinking by giving us the   
ability in the first place?" the tall woman grumbled,   
moaning and trying to rise to her feet again. All she   
was able to do was to rise up enough to make it hurt   
when she fell, just like the previous two times. She   
settled for looking at the dirt caked on the bottom   
of the barrel next to her, hoping her sense of   
balance and equilibrium would return. Next time,   
she'd use the barrel as support, but for now her   
ears still rang, and her stomach was still churning.   
A loud, booming impact made her look up, and   
regret the sudden movement as she tried to focus her   
eyes on the shapes that had just come out of the door   
of the building to her left. The noises from inside   
the building already made her assume it was a tavern of   
some sort, and the three who came into the dark alley   
confirmed her guess.   
" She looked like she might be willing to buy us   
another round," one of them announced in a high-pitched   
giggle, as sure a sign of his drunken state as his   
inability to stand without the aid of one of his   
companions.  
" Or at least not mind our checking her purse   
for ourselves," the third, a thickset man with dark   
hair, added pragmatically in a deep rumble. He knelt   
next to the woman and roughly slid his large hands over   
her waist, then turned to the other two. " Keep an eye   
out for the watch."   
" She looked rich to me," the drunk explained   
loudly. " Look at the fabric of that dress."  
" Good fabric won't get us any gold," he said,   
and then leveled a look of disgust at the drunken man   
as he began to stand. " It's too plain to be worth   
stealing. She doesn't have a coin on her, or a speck   
of jewelry."  
" The watch should be the least of your concerns,"   
a second woman added, stepping around the corner and   
into the mouth of the alley. The dark-haired man   
finished standing, staring appreciatively at the   
gentle curves under the yellow gown. This one   
certainly wasn't all muscle and bone like the woman   
on the ground. He took a half-step forward, and   
began to smile as she merely raised a hand above   
her head.  
In an instant, before he could complete the   
step, the roar of the oceans that the red planet   
had not known for eons was heard once more. A wave   
twice the height of a grown man rose up behind the   
woman, passed over her without a ripple, and crashed   
into the three men, dashing them against the wall   
where the alley ended.  
" Neptune," the first woman managed to nod in   
greeting, reaching for the top of the barrel. This   
time, she was able to pull herself up to her knees.  
" Hello, Uranus," the other replied, taking the   
blonde's arm, bringing her to her feet, and then   
grimaced at the mud caked on the dress. " We'll have   
to get you some new clothes. You look like a mess."  
" You should try how I feel on the inside," Uranus   
replied, trying to smile and sound flippant. " I've   
never had a gate that was so bad."  
She looked around again, and then caught   
Neptune's attention and motioned upwards. " The roof. I   
need some fresh air."  
The other Senshi nodded, looking around to   
make sure the men were still unconscious and nobody   
else was able to see them. She took Uranus into her   
arms and jumped up to the roof of the tavern, landing   
lightly on the edge and helping Uranus to step down,   
and then across the roofs of three more buildings   
before stopping. The taller woman sighed audibly and   
lay down on her back, taking deep breaths of the   
cleaner, cooler air.  
" The sickness will pass," Neptune said and   
sat cross-legged near the other woman. " It took   
about an hour for me to recover."  
" An hour? You've been here that long?"  
" Several, actually," Neptune said, and then   
blushed. " I landed next to a hog wallow on a farm on   
the outskirts, so I think you did fairly well, considering the circumstances."  
Uranus chuckled softly. " A hog wallow? And here I   
thought that alley was fragrant. Neither of us are used   
to the smell of cities anymore."  
" We're not used to a lot of things," Neptune   
agreed, nodding. " Like thieves stalking the alleys of   
a part of the Moon Kingdom."  
" This is the frontier, so it's going to be a lot   
like Earth in many ways," Uranus commented. " There's no   
way to spare enough of the Guard to police this place."  
" Earth," Neptune sighed. " It's been so long   
since I've seen a real ocean, or breathed salt air."   
" Three hundred and twenty-seven years," Uranus   
said. " I still remember the blue skies, and the feel   
of the winds. Perhaps one day, we'll go there again."  
Neptune nodded, and brushed her turquoise hair back   
off of her forehead as she looked about at the settlement,   
and suddenly laughed as Uranus' stomach growled loudly.  
" We need to get you some food, and a change of   
clothing before we start looking for signs of the nest,"   
Neptune said, standing and helping Uranus to her   
feet. " A tavern I saw on the way here looked to have   
far a better clientele than the one we just left.  
" And," she added slyly, seeing the look of hunger   
on her companion's face, and remembering her tastes in   
food. " The smells coming out of there were just   
wonderful... meat pies, I think, and a stew."  
  
****  
  
  
The tavern turned out to also be an inn, and   
Neptune's old coins gained them a room, bed, and a   
hot bath without a second look.  
" Silver is silver, no matter if it's on   
Earth, the Moon, or Mars," Neptune commented after   
the servants brought in the last of the buckets   
of steaming water, and poured them into the wooden tub.  
" That food was worth its weight in gold,"   
Uranus replied, pulling her dress over her head   
and stepping into the water.   
" It must have been, considering how much   
of it you ate," Neptune teased, and took the   
dress over to a separate basin to soak it in   
an attempt to save it from being permanently   
stained.  
" You grew up in a palace, practically," the blonde   
parried as she sank down into the water until it was at   
her chin. " I'm not used to all that finery we get for   
food."   
" I grew up next to a palace, Uranus, and you   
know that as well as I. Saturn was the only one of   
us of even close to royal birth."  
" Royalty misses out on the good food, then. Did   
you know it has been over two hundred years since I   
had a piece of sausage?"  
" No wonder you ate three of those meat pies,   
then," Neptune smiled, than moved over to lay down   
on the bed, on her back, looking up at the ceiling   
and the smoke-darkened wooden beams. " Do you miss   
it?"  
" The food, the Moon, or the Earth?"  
"The Earth, of course," she smiled again,   
liking the feeling of doing it, and having someone   
to smile at. " Food is merely food, and we hardly   
had a chance to see what they've done on the Moon   
with our own eyes."  
" How could I not miss it, Neptune?" Uranus   
asked in reply, dunked her head under the water, sat   
up, and began to scrub at her shoulders with soap   
and a rag. " It was home, after all. I miss it   
everyday."  
" I'm glad I'm not the only one," Neptune   
whispered, her voice just audible to the other   
woman. " When is it going to end, Uranus? Will we   
be doing this forever?"   
" Nothing lasts forever, Neptune," she   
responded after a few moments. She stood and upended   
the last bucket over herself, washing away the soap   
and began to dry herself with a towel. " Not even   
our duty, I don't think."  
" It's so hard right now, though," Neptune   
went on, still whispering. " Everything I see here   
reminds me of all I've lost. My family is gone, and   
all my friends. Only you and Pluto even know I ever   
existed."  
Oh, Serenity, Uranus sighed inside, offering up   
a prayer to the first Queen as Neptune rolled over on   
her side and began to quietly cry, the tears streaming   
down her face. She'd never had to deal with this. She   
was an only child. Why couldn't this be Pluto who   
Neptune was opening up to, the one who had more   
siblings than she herself had cousins?   
Uranus quickly pulled on a clean robe and   
walked over to the bed, and sat down next to Neptune.   
Not knowing what else to do, she put her hand over   
one of Neptune's and stayed there until the other   
woman cried herself to sleep.  
  
****  
  
The blonde smiled to herself, looking at her   
reflection in a sheet of polished brass that was   
taller than she, reaching all the way up to the   
ceiling. The gown she wore may not have been as   
fine as some of the ones in her closets back in   
her castle, but it was beautifully, gloriously   
different from anything she had.   
The hem swept around and brushed the floor   
as she twirled, admiring how it looked on her. She'd   
worn far simpler things when she was younger, or a   
man's clothes when needed for dirty work, but that   
hadn't meant she didn't like dressing up.   
" Isn't this just wonderful?" she almost   
gushed. Neptune came across the shop to see her   
while the tailor's daughter sat at a table and   
altered a seam in a dress to properly fit Neptune.  
" It is," Neptune agreed, smiling at the   
sight of the other woman being happy, almost   
exuberant. The letters they usually used to   
correspond with couldn't convey too much of how   
the other person was feeling, and the times they   
actually had talked were emergencies, during which   
it was time to be deadly serious. " If we can,   
we'll stop back after we're done here."  
In a more serious and softer voice, she   
went on, picking up a carefully folded outfit   
and handing it to the blonde. " The only people   
who have been openly wearing weapons have been   
the Guard and the nobility. You'll never pass   
yourself off as a Guardsman since they know one   
another. The detachment here is too small."  
" I know," Uranus replied, equally soft-spoken,   
and then sighed. " Still... "  
" We can't be found out. Two new Senshi would   
create quite a stir in the Moon Kingdom," Neptune   
replied with a glance towards the shopkeeper, and   
gestured towards a curtain separating off one corner   
of the room. The blonde went behind it and began to   
change, and Neptune looked around the shop, hungrily   
drinking in the feel of it.  
Thankfully, Uranus hadn't said a word about   
her crying the previous night. After being away   
from people for so long, coming back to a city was   
overwhelming. Her family life had been very urban,   
which was to be expected from a girl who grew up in   
the capital of the fledgling Golden Kingdom.   
Her father had been a groundskeeper who oversaw   
the design and care of the gardens of the King, and   
was often commissioned to do the same by a number of   
nobles. While technically, she was part of the lower   
class, the King's gratitude for her father's skill   
earned them a higher rank in society, and those of   
the higher ranks simply didn't move too far away   
from the seat of power. She'd never been outside   
the capital, save for visits to estates that were   
perched on the hills around the capital overlooking   
nearby farms and the ocean.   
Therefore, the isolation since she made her   
vow to Serenity I was especially hard on her, since   
she was used to being constantly around people. Last   
night, her feelings had overwhelmed her; the delight   
of seeing other people again, and the sense of dread   
of knowing that she'd have to go back to being alone.  
" How's this?" Uranus asked, stepping back into   
view. To Neptune, the high black boots, white trousers,   
and a blue jacket with gold embroidery on the shoulders   
made her not only look like she had a military background,   
but also looked like a nobleman's costume as well. Add   
in a sword, and people would think twice before   
questioning Uranus' right to carry one.  
" Perfect," she replied with a small, tight   
smile so as to not let the other woman see what she   
was feeling. If the fog hunters weren't well-established,   
they could be done with their mission shortly. Did   
it really have to end so soon?  
  
****  
  
  
They made two circuits of the settlement, staying   
to the outskirts at first. They had no idea of their   
enemies' plans or strength, so they kept their eyes open,   
enjoying the sights and sounds of the city as best they   
could while they searched. Their disguises must have   
worked, as nobody spared them more than a second look   
save for admiring glances drawn by their looks.  
The town itself was very much like a small town   
on Earth, with the exception of the magic that let it   
survive. The farms around the town provided food for   
the settlement, but more importantly would begin to   
turn the air of the planet from the poison it currently   
was into something breathable. Hundreds if not thousands   
of years would be required, but with the aid of the   
Silver Crystal anything was possible, and many people   
were here to get a foothold on the new world.  
A central market ruled the middle of town, and   
was a hotbed of commercial ventures. Most of the people   
were from the Moon Kingdom, with the light skin and   
light hair that was the norm for the people on the Moon.   
Scattered among them like ravens among doves were a   
small number of merchants from the Golden Kingdom, with   
their wily looks, dark hair and more olive complexions.   
Even their tents were colorful, bright silks standing   
out from white canvas.  
" I'm almost surprised they're here, given what's   
happening with the plague," Neptune quietly murmured   
to Uranus and motioning towards the people from Earth   
with a nod of her head.  
" It's not like they can go home, either," Uranus   
softly replied. " The gates between here and Moon are   
down, and the plague hasn't spread to the settlement."   
There were craftsmen's shops near the central   
square, still an easy walk for shoppers, and then a   
ring of inns and taverns before one got to the houses.   
The newness of the settlement and need for importing   
much of the materials led to small houses. Few houses   
were of any size, and those that were obviously   
belonged to the rich.  
It was while walking down one of the two broad   
avenues that cut the town into quarters that Neptune   
stopped suddenly and looked around wildly, eyes   
unfocused on the buildings around them.  
" Larva," she whispered in response to Uranus   
tightly taking her arm. The blonde scowled and looked   
around her.  
" No wonder we couldn't find nests. There's   
enough people here that they just started," Uranus   
grumbled, trying to cover up a pang of worry. The   
only time a fog hunter had started laying eggs   
directly into prey before building a nest was when   
one reached Neptune and drifted into a group of   
floaters. The large, balloonlike creatures were   
gathered around a rich cluster of the gases they   
fed off of, and were not fast movers in any case. The   
fog hunter went into a feeding frenzy on the first   
floater, and then started laying eggs into the others.   
Sailor Neptune arrived shortly after the fog   
hunter, but the eggs had quickly hatched and grown   
into a larval form. The larva would merge with and   
mutate the host for survivability until it could further   
grow into a mature fog hunter. Despite the monster's   
youth, the result was thoroughly malevolent. Neptune   
spent almost two weeks constantly chasing down and   
killing the warped creatures.  
" In there," Neptune said, gesturing with a hand   
as she shook her head to clear it from the shock of   
sensing the larva. The use of one of her new powers,   
an ability to sense an enemy, was also a strain. She'd   
manifest a focus for those abilities shortly, much like   
Pluto had her staff, but for now it was still taxing.   
Uranus scowled, turned to face the tavern, and   
loosened her sword in its sheath.  
  
****   
  
  
Inside the tavern, it was warm and noisy despite   
only being the early evening. The main room was packed   
full, and a half-dozen serving girls were briskly moving   
back and forth with steaming platters of food and foaming   
pitchers of ale. An elderly woman, her silver hair shining   
in the light, was singing a lively folk song in a   
still-strong voice, with most of the people joining   
in on the refrains.  
The barkeep waved them over to a table wedged   
into a corner near a group of blacksmiths, their trade   
clearly evident due to spark-scarred leather aprons and   
large shoulders and arms. The men were loud, used to   
talking over the noise in their shop, and were discussing   
the latest news from the Moon and their opinions on the   
efforts by the Golden Kingdom to help stop the plague.  
" Ale?" Uranus asked impulsively of one of the   
girls as she came to their table, and smiled when the   
girl nodded. " Supper, as well," Uranus added. She met   
Neptune's eyes for a moment, and chuckled at the look   
in them.  
" I see," Neptune commented in an amused   
voice. " Enjoying yourself while you can, aren't   
you?"  
" I might as well," the blonde quipped,   
smiling broadly and leaning back in her chair.   
Outwardly, she looked like she was just resting   
and glancing around, but was actually looking   
closely at the people she could see. Neptune was   
doing the same, she knew, trying to find the host   
by the signs of acute distress that would be the   
first part of the larva changing the host. The   
important part was to not seem to be a threat. Until   
they knew how far along the incubation was, neither   
wanted to chance making the host nervous enough to   
flee. The larva's survival instincts were strong.  
Minutes later, the food arrived. Uranus reached   
for her tankard of ale like she was thirsty. She   
pretended to take a sip, and peered over the rim at   
one of the patrons sitting near the door to her left. As   
she put the tankard down, she tapped Neptune's leg with   
one of her boots, and motioned that way with her eyes   
when Neptune looked up.  
" Mmm hmmm," the woman murmured in agreement. He   
did seem to be a likely suspect. His slight flush   
could have been the heat of the crowded room or a   
fever, but she had an instinctive reaction just from   
looking at him; a feeling of wrongness.  
They ate and drank sparingly as the evening wore   
on, and they carefully watched the man. New singers   
took the woman's place. Many of the songs were new and   
eagerly listened to. Some, however, were familiar   
songs which they joined in on the refrains, or listened   
to the new words matched with tunes they knew.   
At last, the man they were watching rose to his  
feet, left some coins on the table, and swayed to the   
door. The two women followed, Neptune pausing only a   
moment to take a large woolen cloak from a peg by the   
door where its owner had left it.  
" Keep an eye out," Uranus whispered to Neptune,   
her hand on hilt of her sword as they walked after him. As   
hoped, he soon left the more crowded main street, and   
moved off onto a smaller lane that was empty for the   
moment.  
Neptune quickly grabbed Uranus' arm. Now that   
they were away from the crowd in the tavern, she could   
clearly tell the man was a host to a fog hunter larva.   
Uranus looked at her, nodded, and eased her arm from   
Neptune's grasp. Neither liked what was going to happen,   
but both knew the necessity. He was no longer a man,   
and would soon be a monster.  
As Neptune averted her eyes, Uranus carefully   
drew her blade, and then dashed forward. The man was   
run through before he even had time to react, and   
Uranus clamped her arm around his head to muffle any   
cry he might make. His frame stiffened, muscles   
straining against the inevitable for a moment, and   
then he slumped lifeless to the ground.  
" Let's get out of here," Uranus said, wiping   
blood from her blade on the dead man's tunic. Her own   
clothes were stained red on the front as well, and she   
accepted the cloak that Neptune silently handed her.  
  
****  
  
  
Three more days had passed, and they had found   
four more hosts.  
The settlement was rife with rumors and accusations   
about the five deaths, and one not of their doing. A   
man accused of being the killer had been torn apart by   
a mob before the Guard could stop the angry crowd.  
No blame fell on the two Senshi, however. It   
seemed the Guard felt it was the work of the lower   
classes, as the two had previously expected. Their   
clothes and bearing kept them from being suspects   
for now.  
" You're thinking the same thing I'm thinking,"   
Neptune said to Uranus on their fourth morning in the   
settlement as she joined her for breakfast. This   
tavern was not as much to her liking as the first   
they stayed in, and not as busy as she'd prefer, but   
they had to keep moving. They were not residents, and   
eventually would be noticed as such.  
The tall woman mumbled her agreement around a   
cold leg of a chicken from last night's dinner. " It's   
not in the settlement itself," she went on after a   
drink of water.  
" They've always been drawn to life forms before,"   
Neptune quietly agreed. " It's time to widen our search.   
We'll be found out if we keep chasing larva, or they'll   
be a horde of full adults on our hands."  
" Root of the problem, after all," Uranus sourly   
added, reminded of her desire to take the fight to   
Nemesis, and her inability to do it. Uranus finished   
the last of the chicken before standing and buckling   
on her sword belt.  
The two women left, and headed out to the farms,   
starting in the direction opposite from where Neptune   
had arrived at, reasoning that she would have sensed   
the fog hunter if it was there.   
Away from the houses, shops and inns, it was much   
quieter. There was little breeze and the temperature   
was always the same thanks to the Queen's enchantment,   
but few people were about in the area they were in   
despite it's beauty and tranquillity. The settlement   
was packed full of people, but perhaps it was the   
dividing line that kept people from staying too close   
to the edge. Most of the farmers, they'd found out,   
would return to the settlement each night.  
In the distance to their right as they walked   
to the top of a low rise, they could see the green of   
the farms turn into the red sands of the planet. Every   
day, the barrier would move out another foot or two,   
and eventually the new land would be plowed and   
planted. Another row of hedges would be planted, and   
beyond that another, resulting in a narrow lane such   
as the one they were on now.  
" This is a lot like home," Uranus said, looking   
at the fields and farms. " We had a small farm, just   
like that one." She motioned towards the buildings on   
her left, three barns and a smaller building which   
looked like living quarters. There was still no sign   
of anyone.  
" It was up in a valley. Father said it was   
useless for growing crops, but it was good grazing   
land, so he raised cattle and hogs."  
" How did he ever make it work?" Neptune asked. Her   
father had been involved in farming, but for a very   
different purpose.   
" Cheese and hams," Uranus explained, and carefully   
put a hand on Neptune's shoulder, turning her to face   
the buildings she'd indicated. " We'd get up every morning   
to milk the cows to make cheese, and have four wheels of   
cheese started each day.  
" We'd make a hard white cheese that was aged for a   
long time, so the big barn was where we'd store them on   
racks to age. The hogs were fed grass and the curds that   
were leftover from the cheese, and we'd smoke the hams in   
the smaller barn."  
Uranus stopped, seemingly reminiscing, and   
tightened her grip on Neptune's shoulder. " The   
middle one was special, though," the tall woman   
went on." My mother had a garden right behind it,   
and I'd go out to it each morning with a cup of tea   
when I could to see the fog clear away from the valley   
each morning."  
" Fog?" Neptune asked, puzzled at the unusual   
emphasis Uranus put on the word, and then realized what   
Uranus was carefully hinting at. She'd been so caught   
up in being here that she hadn't been paying attention   
to anything but that, and a fog hunter had an uncanny   
ability to sense fear. Between themselves, they'd often   
suspected that the fog hunters were empathic due to how   
they reacted to the terror the mere sight of one would   
cause in their prey. If the other woman hadn't been so   
careful, Neptune knew she might have reacted strongly   
enough to draw a hunter's attention.  
Just as she started to open her mind to see if   
she could find any traces, Uranus shoved her hard,   
making her stumble to her right and fall. A long, massive   
reptilian-looking head with razor-sharp, barbed horns   
flashed through the spot where they'd been standing. The   
fog hunter!  
Uranus was already in motion, having jumped up and   
to the left. Clothing blurred into her uniform as a   
cascade of golden light gushed from her fingertips,   
washing over the serpentine head of the beast to distract   
it.  
" The barns! Get the barns!" Uranus yelled as she   
landed in a defensive crouch with sword drawn. Neptune   
gulped, and mustered her will. A towering wall of water   
rose up in response to her command, and smashed all four   
buildings into kindling.  
The beast hissed, enraged, and turned towards   
Neptune. Both Senshi could hear the high pitched wailing   
inside as hundreds of larva were suddenly exposed to   
Earth intensity sunlight that was utterly foreign to their  
kind, and died from the shock of it. Their distant home   
of Nemesis was a dark place, and only an adult hunter   
could survive it without a host.  
" I didn't feel a thing from it!" Neptune gasped,   
scrambling to her feet and edging backwards as she   
manifested her uniform. The mottled light and dark   
gray bulk of the fog hunter, over thirty feet of scale   
and malevolence, shifted as it tracked her with cold,  
black eyes.  
" Neither did I," Uranus replied in a low voice,   
breathing deeply from the sudden, reflexive use of her   
power. " But I've never been on a farm which was that   
quiet."  
" The light gives us an advantage," Neptune said,   
remembering her experiences with the monsters she'd   
fought before on her namesake planet. There, she'd   
been closer to the fog hunter's natural environment,   
but now they had an advantage. However, even if   
partially blinded, the fog hunter was still stronger   
than both of them, swift as a snake when it attacked,   
and emitted a deadly poison from the barbed horns.   
" I'll stand still," she said, moving her lips   
as little as possible. The hunters were intelligent,   
the two knew from experience, but not to what extent,   
and often would not attack right away if the target   
didn't move. The two women had often used the tactic   
before to sneak up on the hunters.  
However, they also had never been this close to   
one at the start of a fight before. Both normally   
would chose to begin to attack from afar when they had   
to deal with the fog hunters, and by carefully stalking   
could achieve the best position. Also, while they had   
never used it, their ability to transport themselves with   
their castles had made an escape route available. On Mars,   
without easy access to their castles, they had no such   
fall-back position.  
" I trust you, Neptune," Uranus said, not moving   
either. " I'll distract it by attacking, and you can   
get in the first blow as you pull back. On three... "  
Yelling as she started forward, Uranus rushed at   
the fog hunter. It turned and lashed forward much like   
the snake it seemed. The woman braced her hand against   
the flat of her sword blade as she tried to dodge to the   
side. Fangs bigger than her sword snapped shut next to her,   
narrowly missing, but she blocked one of the horns with   
the sword. The blade was dented, and she was flung to the   
ground by the impact but rolled and came up to one knee.  
As soon as the hunter moved, Neptune clenched her   
fists and thrust them forwards at the beast. Foregoing   
manifesting her power as water, she instead released raw   
power in a torrent of blue energy. She couldn't do this for   
very long, but they could not afford a long battle. Neptune's   
attack washed over the fog hunter, dazing it for the fraction   
of a second that Uranus needed.   
Seeing her chance, the sword was dropped. She made a   
fist, golden light crackling and seething around it as she   
surged to her feet and slammed her fist into a coil of the   
fog hunter's long body. At that range, it did not matter   
how resistant the creature normally was to their   
attacks. It's mouth gaped open in pain as it was nearly   
severed.   
" Get clear!" Neptune yelled, raising both hands   
above her head to summon a flood of water. It was too   
injured to move quickly in the resulting mud, and they   
would be able to finish it with ranged attacks. Uranus   
complied, leaping away before the mud was too thick to   
leap out of.   
Both Senshi concentrated their most powerful   
attacks on their immobilized foe, and soon the creature's   
body was a charred, burnt pile of ash. The two women were   
sweating heavily and trembling from their exertions and   
fading adrenaline. Far away, they could hear shouts as   
people from other farms were making their way to the   
scene of the battle.  
" Blast it, they'll be here in a few minutes,"   
Uranus growled, taking a deep breath and using the   
last of her strength to brush her power over the   
buildings, starting fires with the raw energy alone. " We   
need to go, and now. I'd liked to have stayed, but   
there'll be too many questions to avoid now."  
The tall woman turned to Neptune, and suddenly   
stepped forward to awkwardly hug her. Neptune stiffened   
at first, then returned the embrace, just as   
self-conscious as the other woman about how to hug   
her, but not the hug itself. They separated reluctantly.  
" I'm sorry, Neptune," Uranus murmured. " I   
was woolgathering and didn't realize what was   
happening until we were too close. The hosts were   
the farmhands, and it killed the animals."  
" I'm glad you're all right," Neptune   
replied. " I wanted to stay here with you, too... even   
if it was just a few days."  
" Maybe next time," Uranus replied, blushing,   
and then her expression became grim. " But it's the   
last time for Serenity; for any of them."  
Her fists were clenched, and Uranus' voice   
was low and thick with frustration and controlled   
fury. " There will be no more of this. I won't go   
back on my oath, and I won't stop fighting to protect   
the Moon Kingdom, but this is the last time I will   
fight like this. It's been three hundred and   
twenty-seven years, Neptune, and we still have   
to fight like this, fight in reaction to the fog   
hunters rather than attacking them on their own   
planet."  
Neptune nodded. This had been a subject they'd   
corresponded about far more than once over the years,   
and while she was not as vocal as Uranus about it,   
she felt much the same. The handicap they were under   
wasn't fair, nor right.  
Another shout came, closer than the rest. Uranus   
glanced over to see a young boy, just approaching his   
teens, running along the lane to the farm.   
" The next time," she said to Neptune, knowing   
she had to hurry. " The next time, we do things our   
way, and we'll do it right. I'm not going to risk   
losing again."  
" We will," Neptune replied, nodding. She had   
heard the catch in Uranus' voice and was certain she   
knew what it meant. Uranus meant she didn't want to   
risk losing her again, like what had almost happened   
today.  
What made her certain was that she was thinking   
the same thing about Uranus.  
" Guardian, contact Pluto and tell her now,"   
Neptune said firmly, looking into the sea-green eyes   
of the other woman. Hesitantly, she raised a hand as   
if to reach out. Uranus did the same, almost touching   
Neptune's as Pluto's spell carried them away.   
  
  
The End.  
  
********  
  
Sailor Moon created by Naoko Takeuchi.  
  
All characters are copyrights of the respective holders.  
Please send all comments, etc. to the above e-mail address.  
  
Author's notes.  
  
1. This is a manga based story that came about from some   
discussions in the past with Sailor Skuld regarding the   
past and the duties of the Senshi over the history of the   
Moon Kingdom. In what for me is an unusual approach, this   
time I had the details and crafted a story around them.   
Normally, I write in the opposite manner.  
  
2. The term 'Silver Millennium' is often used in the   
manga to describe the realm on the Moon founded by Queen   
Serenity I. However, it seemed to me to be an odd way   
for a person to refer to the time they are living in,   
and more appropriate to a historian looking back on   
events. Therefore, I have changed the name to the Moon   
Kingdom in this story. I hope that this does not cause  
any confusion for the reader.  
  
  
****  
  
Special thanks to the following:  
  
Pandora Diane MacMillan, for being both a wonderful   
person and a wonderful writer. Thank you for making me   
laugh and for making me think. Oh, yeah... and she's   
also a wonderful mother as well.   
http://webhome.idirect.com/~pwaldron/  
  
Myrna Waldron, for her putting together a web page   
for me. It's not much now, but knowing her and her   
skills with html, look out. Her own page is at the   
following.  
http://sera-muun.tripod.com  
  
Sailor Skuld, for being one of the most important   
people in SM fanfiction. Thank you so much for all   
the effort and inspiration, Skuld. Your fanfic   
archive was the biggest and best for SM fanfic,   
and simply cannot be the same without you.  
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/9897/  
  
Greenbeans, for being a fellow Outers fan,   
co-conspirator on the OST, and all-around nice   
person.  
http://www.tyrlen.org/gbeans/homepage/  
  
Jackie Chiang, for being a fellow Outer fan,   
co-conspirator on the OST, and for always being   
so wonderfully silly on-line.  
http://sailorsoldier.cjb.net/  
  
Alex Glover, for all his work and kindness in   
translating the manga.  
http://www.nwlink.com/~kurozuki/manga.htm  
  
  
  
  
  
{ Changing of the Guard 1/1 }  
  
  



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